Falling From Grace
by castinglights
Summary: We've been mourning their mom's death and their highly publicized dissapearance. We miss the music, youtube, and Disney Channel appearances. I miss something more. My best friend and love. Kevin. But my dad kidnaps me, and I find Kev. Will we ever escape?
1. Chapter 1

**Authors note: I obviously own nothing except those that I obviously own. I mention the Texas polygamy sect in this, and do not mean to say anything horrible or imply anything** **about them. I merely got an idea from it and blew it way more out of proportion than the real thing is...at least I'm pretty sure...ok, I'm gonna stop talking before I get in trouble. Here is my drama filled, sad, totally cliche story about totally cliche love. Enjoy:) **

**P.S. You can review if you want, but Im not gonna be one of those people that freaks out if no one reviews. I write because it is an outlet for my far too imaginative brain.**

You all know the Jonas Brothers, right? Of course you do. We've all only been mourning their highly publicized disappearance for the past 6 months right after the highly publicized death of their mom. We all miss their music and their youtube videos and seeing them on Disney Channel every day. But I miss something that the rest of you don't miss. I miss my boyfriend, who was also my fiancée. Kevin and I were planning on marrying secretly the day I turned 18.

Then my mom died, and my dad went crazy. He basically kidnapped me, destroying my cell phone, laptop, and other communication devices that had Kevin's number, so I lost contact with him. The only way I knew what was happening with him was looking at the fan sites at hotel computers. I tried several times to message him, but all my communications were lost in the depths of the millions of other fan mail.

He was looking so sad one day in an interview as he said the usual schpiel that he was single. He looked straight into the camera when he said he was looking for the girl of his dreams, and I knew he was talking with me. And when his mom died, I broke down sobbing. Denise had been the only person that knew about Kevin and I, and she had been there for me when my mom died. She had been my mom for the past few months.

The night that I found out, I cried until there were no tears left, and my dad came back up to the hotel room from gambling. He was drunk, and decided that it would be fun to use me as a target. As his fists rained down blows on me, I sobbed, knowing I had no parents left in this world.

A week later, it was confirmed that the Jonas Brothers, little Frankie, and their dad were missing. I prayed for them every day, and asked God to return them, and to possibly put Kevin and I together again.

8 months after my disappearance, and 6 months after the love of my life's, I turned 18. Nothing in that day went differently. Dad woke up, took a super long shower, told me to stay in the room, and went downstairs to the poker tables. I got on his computer and checked in at fansites and celebrity-stalker sites to see if my boy had been found yet. Nothing. As usual. I stayed online until late that night when I heard my dad fumbling with the handle. I instantly turned off the computer, jumped on the bed, and picked up a book, but I couldn't focus on the words as I thought about how this could have been my wedding night.

He came in, drunk as usual, and instead of coming over to hit me, he passed me, and grabbed up his suitcase. He began throwing clothes into it, along with his computer and other possessions. As he did so, he said, "Get yourself packed. We're leaving. I met a man who has a great set up all ready for us." I slowly began putting my things together in silence. After I finished, we left the room, checked out, and got into the truck.

As we went down the road, I cautiously asked, "So, where is this set up?" He grinned and said, "It's in the mountains in Oregon. There are lots of people there, and they're Christian, so it should be a good community." I looked down at my hands and said quietly, "I was thinking, could you drop me off with Scotty or Charlie? I could live with them for a while before I support myself. I am 18 now."

Dad slammed on the brakes and pulled off onto the side of the road. He put on the emergency brake and slowly looked over at me. I felt myself shiver as he glared at me.

"Never talk about those two brothers of yours again, understand? In fact, never talk about any of your siblings around me again! I don't care if you are 18 or 30, but you are staying with me. Just you remember that I am your father and I deserve respect!"

He suddenly slapped me really hard, and I was thrown back against the passenger door, clutching my face in shock. He got back on the highway as I lay curled up in the farthest corner of my seat. Blood ran between my fingers as I felt my tender lip. It had split, adding to the nosebleed I had procured. I didn't like Dad's new version of Christianity, and was scared about the place we were going.

We drove all through the night and into the next day. I tried to ignore my dad's crazy ravings about how life was unfair to him and that he was going to start new at this place. Trees flashed by as we passed through Mt. Shasta, where dad's brother and sister lived. I could see my aunt's house from the highway, and I thought seriously about throwing myself out of the vehicle to escape my father. Then the house was gone, and we soon left the area. We passed the border to Oregon an hour later. We kept driving and driving.

Around 3 pm, we turned off the deserted main road onto a dirt road. Certain it couldn't be far, I kept thinking that the buildings would be just around the next corner. After about 30 minutes of that, I turned to my dad and cautiously asked, "What group are they? I mean, what Christian denomination?"

He downshifted as we went up a hill.

"You know that compound in Texas that had everyone going crazy?"

My heart sank deep beneath my feet as I nodded my head, praying he was joking.

"Well, this group was started by the same guy. But they have a new leader now, the man I met today. He is a strong man, and his wife died too, but that only made him stronger. He took his 

kids out of a sinful atmosphere and now their souls are on God's path. I aim to do the same with you."

I sat there, stunned beyond words. My dad was driving us to a polygamist sect that were obviously hidden or a very well kept secret. I couldn't believe that he had really gone this mad. I would be stuck there, probably doomed to marry some 60 year-old man with 8 other wives. Finally my tongue loosened, and I started talking in a very low voice.

"Daddy, please, don't do this. You don't have to do this. We can still go home, and live with the rest of the family. They're hurting too, and now they've lost their dad, but you can give him back to them. You just have to come back to me first. Please don't take us there, turn around while we still can. This is a really horrible idea."

He stopped the car, and for a minute, I thought he was back to his senses. Then he turned around in his seat and, as quick as a snake, he grabbed my hoop earring and yanked hard on it. I screamed as it ripped through my ear lobe. Gasping in pain, I swiftly pulled the earring off of my other ear, and plastered myself as close to the door as I could, my eyes wide and dilated with terror. The man I had known as my dad leered at me.

"That is what happens to those who try to tempt. There will be far worse repercussions if you continue, or if you rebel when we arrive. You will do whatever I or other men tell you to do, understand?"

When I didn't answer, he reached over and grabbed my wounded earlobe, pinching it and causing blood to ooze out onto his fingers.

"Understand?"

I scrabbled with my hands at the chair underneath me, desperately attempting to not try to get him off of me in fear of an even more horrible punishment as I screamed out, "Yes, yes, yes, I understand, just please, please, ah, I understand!"

He abruptly let go, wiped his bloody hands on my holey jeans, started up the truck, and we were once again on our way to my doom.


	2. How It All Began

**AN: Hey! Thanks to starsnuffers for reviewing. I agree, her dad is a super meanie. **

**So this chapter is about how the main character and Kevin met. They have super crazy good chemistry, and they know it.**

**Kevin-It's just because of my amazingly-hot-Jonas-Brother-looks.**

**Mary-Is not.**

**Kevin-Is too, just admit it.**

**Mary-Thanks a lot narrator!**

Before this whole "my life is a complete drama" section of my existence started, I actually didn't have such weird, scary, or sad situations to deal with.

Once I was a totally normal 17 year old girl. My name was, and still is, Mary, a completely common four letter word name. I was the youngest of 7 kids, and we were a super tight family from my eldest brother Scotty who was 31, my middle brother Charlie, aged 28, Woody, the youngest boy who was 26, my eldest sister Anna, who was 24, Lily, the next sister, 22, and finally the second youngest and most like my twin, even though we looked nothing alike. I had been best friends with my best friend since I was 6. I went to church, and the people there were like family and most of them had watched me grow up. I also had a top secret boyfriend. Well, my family and his knew about us, but no one else was allowed to know, namely the press. Ok, so maybe that isn't totally normal, but it's normal for me.

Kevin and I met when I was 16. We had both just been in arguments with our parents and we needed to cool down and think: He had taken a walk, and I had gone for a drive. Somehow, we both ended up on the same rock at Sand Harbor at Lake Tahoe. It was dark, and the moon was shining on the waves of the lake.(AN: **And yes, Lake Tahoe does have waves…they're very little, but they're there.)** When I got there, I saw the curls, the smile that didn't reach his eyes, and the voice that said, "I don't mind." I sat down, fully knowing and frankly not caring that I was 3 feet away from Kevin Jonas. Ignoring each other, we watched the water for at least an hour.

Finally, Kevin had sighed, looked up and around from the water at me, and said, "So, what's your excuse?" I raised my eyebrow, still zoned out on the mesmerizing glint of the water.

"What, I have to have a reason for driving all the way up to Lake Tahoe, sitting on a freezing cold rock next to a stranger, and stare at H20?"

He chuckled, and I couldn't help but let my mouth twitch a little.

What?

His laugh was infectious!

Anyways, his answer made me roll my eyes a little in defeat.

"Um, no, I suppose not. But it's a little weird to just randomly do that at 2 in the morning."

"Fine handsome stranger. I will tell you. I had a lovely fight with my parents, and just because I couldn't stand all that love being thrown around, I vacated the premises, and ended up here. What about you?"

I glanced over at him. He looked right back at me, his smile dimmed a little.

"Parental fight too. It seems I forgot to clean the bus bathroom. Whoops. I mean, how could I possibly forget that between getting up at 5 am after going to sleep at 1, doing a ton of radio interviews, skipping lunch in lieu of getting to do a TV appearance, do a matinee, barely have time to sneeze, do another show, then go do a club appearance, finally getting back to the bus at 12, only to discover that, lo and behold, the bathroom was not clean. And I still haven't eaten since breakfast. I'm dying."

We looked at each other, both shaking our heads in anger at the injustice of it all, trying to keep the serious and misused looks on our faces. Then a piece of my long blonde hair suddenly fell from the loose braid it was in. I stared at it cross-eyed. Then I glanced up at Kevin, and my eyelashes stuck in the strand. I blinked furiously, trying to rid myself of it. Finally, I lost my temper and threw my head back, making it fly out of my face. I sighed in relief and looked back up at him. His mouth was turned up in a humor-filled smile. A minute later we were rolling around on the rock, holding our sides as we laughed uproariously.

When we gained control of ourselves, we sat, staring out at the lake once more. Agonizing silence went by, then my stomach growled very audibly. I threw up my hands and said, "That does it! I'm dying of hunger too. And it's getting really tiring to be so miserable. I'm going to go get some breakfast. Want to come, or would you rather walk?"

He stood up swiftly and held out his hand to me.

"By all means, lets go get breakfast. And I would really rather not walk. I walked a pretty long way in my fury."

I accepted his hand and stood up. We maneuvered off the rock and began walking to where I had parked my car.

"Just how far?"

"I don't know the miles, but I came from Zephyr Point where we're staying."

I stopped and looked at him incredulously.

"You walked all that way in one hour? You must have been booking it, 'cause that's like…15 miles, or more away."

"I was actually running for 45 minutes. Then I realized I was exhausted."

About to open the passenger door of my car, Kevin said, "Hey, what's your name? I need to know because my mom always said to never talk to strangers or get in their car. And I already broke the first one."

I grinned crazily at him, saying in a creepy voice, "I am Mary Shayler, your worst nightmare!"

We went into the Harrah's in Tahoe City and sat in one of their restaurants for 3 hours. We talked about our lives, funny stories, our families, and just what was bothering us about our parents, trying to justify our anger towards them. Kevin told me about how he wasn't as liked as his brothers, and how he was sometimes ignored, yet expected to keep everyone else happy. I told him that the only reason he wasn't liked as much by the 12 and 10 year olds was that he was an adult, and he looked like an adult. And I might have also mentioned that I thought he looked great as an adult.

Kevin drank ridiculous amounts of coffee, and because I didn't pay attention to how many times the waitress refilled it, I ended up having about 4 chocolate banana milkshakes. Around 4 we had French Toast, and slathered them with whipped cream and strawberries. Needless to say, with all that sugar in our systems, we had a good time, snorting with laughter when a nearby kid smashed his face into his yogurt, to his horrified, and tired, mother's chagrine.

Finally, we looked out of the windows we were sitting next to, and saw the sky turning lighter. Kevin glanced over at me, and said, "What say you to walking the beach at sunrise?" I stared into his brown eyes and saw that his smile reached them. I nodded, and Kevin called, "Check please," pulling out his wallet. I spoke up. "Hey, um, you don't have to do that. I'll get it." He shook his head. "Oh boy, here comes the whole argument. Ok, to curb your wrath that I want to pay a bill in a showing of my "manliness" I will only pay for myself. Deal?" Rolling my eyes I giggled. "I could care less about your "showing of manliness." I actually like it when guys pay for stuff. Saves me money. I just didn't want you to pay for something that I invited you to do. But that works out fine too."

10 minutes later, we were walking along the beach, watching the light begin to hit the mountains and clouds. It was freezing. After a few minutes of trying to restrain myself, I suddenly began jumping up and down, rubbing my arms and shrieking, "Cold! Brrrrrrrrr…Kevin, It. Is. So. Dang. Cold!"

Suddenly I felt him grab my shoulders, heard him say, "Oh stop it Mary. You're making me cold too. Come here," and was suddenly wrapped in his warm arms, my back up against his chest that gently moved as he breathed. It was like being imprisoned in the most warm, cuddly, welcoming prison I had every imagined. As this thought crossed my head, I couldn't help but giggle a little. It was all so unreal.

Kevin put his chin on my head and mumbled, "I don't even want to know. Just be quiet and watch the stupid sunrise already." I yawned and mumbled back, "Fine mister grumpyguts."

We stood there and watched as the sun filtered in over the horizon, turning clouds and jet trails from pink to bright gold. Their reflections bounced off the lake, and it was double the beauty. In total awe of creation,

I whispered, "Wow, God is painting the sky to impress today, huh?" To my surprise, Kevin answered back easily.

"Definitely. Do you think there is a reason behind the sunrise, kind of like there was for the rainbow? Sort of like a special promise from God?"

I turned my head to look up at him, and he looked down at me.

"Kevin, there is a reason and a promise in everything that goes on around us. Literally everything. We only have to look for it. The sunrise symbolized so much. I mean, it shows new life, and a chance for us to wake up from the darkness. That chance is offered to us all the time, even when it is physically dark, yes. Another one is that the sun gives us warmth and light. Without it we would all die. Kind of like how we need God's Son. I mean, I could go on talking forever."

We stared at each other for a minute, then…

"Are you-"

"What denomin-"

"You go first."

"No, you go first."

Grinning and holding up my hand, I said, "I'll go, thankyou. Are you a Christian?"

Kevin lifted his left hand and pointed to the ring on it. There was a cross on it. I knew it was his purity ring, but lots of people wear crosses. I looked up at him and raised a dubious eyebrow. He laughed and, as though he was reading my mind, said, "Yes, I am a Christian. And it's not just something I tell magazines, but it is a way of life and to me it's the only way of life. It's kind of obvious you're a Christian too. What denomination? I'm Reformed Baptist."

I gave him a huge smile.

"Shut up! I am too! Whoa, that is cool, huh?"

Solemnly, he nodded, then suddenly began tickling me. Now I am extraordinarily ticklish, and Kevin had an arm locked around me so I couldn't escape. I laughed as I desperately tried to get away. But all I accomplished was turning us in a circle. He kept tickling me, and I screamed as he hid the extra sensitive spot on my shoulder blade.

"Please, I beg of you, mercy! Hehehe..stop-hahahaha-iiiiittttttt-ahhhhhhhhh, KEVIN! CEASE AND DESIST ALREADY!"

He stopped and I leaned my head back on his shoulder, twisting it to look up at him indignantly.

"What was that for dummy?"

Kevin was looking down at me, and he had a strange look on his face.

"Mary, have we met before, been friends when we were little or something?"

"Um, unless you lie about growing up in Jersey, then I am pretty sure we have never met…why?"

"I've known you for six hours, and I feel like I've known you forever. And I don't know why, but I know I can trust you. And I've told you things my own brothers don't know. I just…I really like you Mary."

I don't know how I knew it was coming, but as I stared into Kevin's deep brown eyes and found myself unable to look away, I realized that I was perfectly okay with what was about to happen, and knew he was too.

He moved his head closer down to mine, slowly and a little hesitantly. When he was close enough to brush noses, Kevin breathlessly whispered, "Mary, may I kiss you?" He ended with possibly the cutest and sweetest smile I have ever seen. I thought about it quickly, then lifted my hand to his cheek, and whispered back, "Only if you really mean it." The cute smile still on his face, he lifted his hand to my chin and gently pulled me into the kiss. It was completely gentle and sweet, seeming to last for minutes. My fingertips grazed his jaw, and he wove his hands through my hair.

A few seconds of a lifetime later, he pulled back, lightly kissed the corner of my mouth, and put his forehead against mine. We didn't say anything. We didn't need to. It had all been said. Just then, dawn fell on us, lighting up the world around us.


	3. A Wedding? Already?

_18 months later_

I sat curled up in the passenger seat trying to stem the blood-flow from my ear. Normally, I would be crying buckets at everything that had happened and was going to happen, but at some during my sojourn with Dad into the wilderness of insanity, cruelty, and abusiveness, I had stopped crying.

I jumped as Dad boomed out, "There it is, we're here! Now listen to me, when we get there, you are on your own. They are allowed to do whatever they need to in order to assimilate you into the group, so don't come whining to me."

I closed my eyes tightly, wishing it would all just go away. We stopped for a minute, and Dad told someone who we were, and there was a noise like a gate opening. We jolted forward once again, and a few minutes later we stopped, and I became aware of the noise of a crowd. I heard Dad's door open, and his voice say, "Wake up stupid." Then his door shut, and I could hear, even through the glass, my father say, "I brought her. Now where's mine?" I heard a familiar voice reply, and I opened my eyes so fast I wouldn't have been surprised if the eyelids got whiplash. But my dad was gone already, and the person that he was talking to with him.

There was a cacophony of tapping noises on my window, and I whirled around to see a sea of faces staring at me through the glass. There were hundreds of men, women, and children gathered in the middle of a large compound area. I could see three large buildings, then a multitude of smaller places that looked like houses.

I looked past them to scope out the geography. From what I could see, it was a hilly country that led into mountains, the Cascades, we had crossed over on the dirt road. I knew the closest shot at civilization was at least 100 miles away, beyond those mountains.

The tapping suddenly stopped, and there was a loud thump on my door. Startled, I jumped and looked at the window. Several large men stood there, jerking their thumbs, and telling me to get out. I knew I had to, so I took a deep breath, and pulled my hoodie way over my head. I made another quick prayer to God, asking that he somehow save me, and opened the door.

I didn't even have time to jump out as the men grabbed me out, then dropped me on the ground in front of a horde of women. I tried backing up as they came at me, but the men were still behind me, blocking all escape routes. Several large ladies got their hands on me, and swept me up towards one of the larger buildings. Old, middle-aged, and very young jogged to keep up with us, all of them smiling and talking, saying things like, "Welcome," "We're so glad that you're here," "What's your name," and more. I looked over my shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of my dad. I saw him on the porch of one of the front houses, kissing a girl barely older than me. Disgusted, I turned away. A sense of finality hit me as I was pulled through the doorway into what I realized was a huge house. I was well and truly stuck here.

They began pulling at my clothes as we swept upstairs. I fought to keep on my hoodie, as it was one of my brothers, and therefore had sentimental value. Also, he had wanted it back right after I borrowed it, but Dad hadn't really cared about that. I was dragged out of my thoughts when we entered a huge bathroom full of old-fashioned claw bathtubs. Apparently, they didn't want me to bath privately, because they began stripping me. I shrieked and tried to cover myself as I was disrobed. They only laughed and threw me in one of the tubs.

As they began washing me, one of them bumped my ear, and the wound opened up again, bleeding everywhere and turning the water red. Suddenly they all backed off and I sat there in the bubble filled water breathing heavily. Then one of the motherly looking sorts approached, and quietly asked, "May I have a look at that?" She gestured towards my ear. I nodded cautiously. She told the others to stay back and give me air as they all started forward. She called a few of the women, asked them to get different things, and told the others to leave.

They did so, and we were all alone. I relaxed, breathing a sigh of relief For some reason I trusted this woman. She reminded me excrutiatingly of Denise Jonas. She had the same wonderful curly black/brown hair that characterized the family. The women brought back the items that had been asked for, and stayed in case anything else was needed. They all looked very nice too.

I hissed as the woman put an alcohol swab up to my ear, disinfecting the wound. She murmured, "I know, I know. Just a minute longer." One of the others quietly asked, "How did you get that?" I turned my eyes to look at her. She looked like Denise too.

"My dad pulled my earring out."

All of the ladies winced and brought their hands to their ears. Another one asked if my dad had also given me the split lip and slightly bruising face. I hesitantly nodded. They all shook their heads. The woman now numbing my ear so that she could stitch it up gently said, "If you don't mind telling us, what's your name sweetheart?" It was so good to have someone speak so kindly to me. It hadn't happened in a very long time.

"Mary Shayler. My dad's name is Don."

A girl who looked to be a little younger than me giggled and said, "She would match the other one bett-" "Hush your mouth Sarah-June."

I figured it was better left alone, so I just sat still as the lady stitched my ear closed. Sarah-June obviously couldn't be quiet for long, because she said, "I think you have the prettiest blue eyes I have ever seen. They're all aqua and turquoise, and like the sky, but with ice in them. I think K-" "SARAH-JUNE!"

"Sorry Momma."

An awkward silence fell, so I smiled at Sarah-June and said, "Thank you. I like your hair. I always wanted to have curls like that."

She blushed and fiddled with a stray black curl, pulling it, then letting it go. I looked back at her mom and decided that they were nice.

"What are your names?"

My healer said, "Well I'm Ann, and these are my sisters Rose, Faith, Summer, and my daughet Sarah-June. Well, you're all done. Ready for the craziness to resume?"

I shook my head. She laughed and patted my shoulder gently.

"Take a deep breath."

She turned towards the door and said, "Alright, you can come in now."

All the women poured back in and Ann backed away with her sisters saying, "I have to go, but I will see you soon." I was about to beg her to stay when my head was plunged underwater. I came up gasping as shampoo was put in my hair and someone scrubbed my scalp vigorously. Random women began washing me all over with hand towels. I was pushed under again several times to rinse and put in conditioner, then rinse again.

Finally, they finished washing me and I was picked up, wrapped up in a bathrobe and put on a couch where they began brushing out my hair, and patting me dry before rubbing me with cocoa butter smelling lotion. I was exhausted and even though I was freaked out over people touching me everywhere, I began nodding off.

When I woke up, I felt my hair was in some sort of braid. I was being shaken gently and told to stand. I did so, yawning. Then my bath robe was stripped off, and I once again panicked, trying to hide myself. One of the women grabbed my hands away as they handed me strange underclothing saying, "Stop being so silly." I hastily pulled on the white underthings. Then they brought out a corset and wrapped it around me. I snorted in unbelief. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no…I don't…come on, please not that…OOPH!" They ignored me and began tightening it. I gasped as the breath was driven from me. After the corset was on and strangling my breath, they brought out a lacy, white dress. I looked from it to the women holding me.

"Why is there a wedding dress coming my way?"

They all giggled as they forced me to put it on and buttoned up the back. One said, "Well this is what you wear when you're about to meet your husband silly." I laughed and said, "Ok, seriously, joke's up. You can take it off now." A girl who was putting flowers into my braid looked at me strangely and said, "No one is joking. Didn't you know?"

I looked around desperately at the faces that had stopped laughing, and held a bit of pity in them.

"Know what, what should I know?"

"That to come here, you father had to bring you as a bride for our bishop's son. Didn't he tell you"

I tore myself from their grasps and ran to the other side of the room, looking for an escape. None of them pursued me, because there was no escape. The door out was blocked. I started looking out the windows as I screamed, "Obviously not!"

The door opened, and a girl popped her head in saying, "They're ready for her. Bishop said to bring her down immediately."

They all looked at each other, none of them wanting to grab me and force me down to where the Bishop was waiting. So they called up someone else to do it. I was still running around the room searching for something, anything, when the door banged open, and in came my father. I looked at him, angrily yelling, "How could you do this to me? I'm just your card to get in? Your, your, your currency?"

He rolled his eyes, and stomped over, grabbed me by the back of my neck, and began dragging me out. I saw the women all wince as I cried out, but none of them spoke up. I began screaming, "Please, please, I'm engaged, don't let them do this. I'm begging you! Plea-OW!" My dad smacked me hard on the cheek, and told me to shut up or he would drag me by my hair. Knowing he would do it, I shut up, but still struggled. My dad didn't care about me trying to get away, just the irritating noises of screaming and panic.

I thought of Kevin and of everything we could've had. Thinking about him made me fight harder. He was out there somewhere, I knew it. And he loved me. We could have a future together still, and I refused to let any man but him touch me, or call anyone else my husband. Just as I thought this, we came to the middle of the three large buildings.

We passed through big double doors, and I grabbed onto one of them so tight that when dad pulled me away from it, I left nail marks in it. We were in a church building of some sort, and there were pillars all around. I grabbed onto one of them, wrapping my arms and legs around it. This was NOT the way I pictured my dad leading me up the aisle! He wrestled me away from it, and then pulled me up the center walkway towards an altar of some sort. I hopefully thought that maybe they thought the Bishop's son was God, and they would sacrifice me on the altar. Then I would go straight to heaven, and eventually Kevin would meet me there. And I wouldn't have to marry.

But no. There were no ceremonial knives or axes present, so I resumed struggling as I caught sight of four men waiting at the end. I screamed once, and I was instantly slapped again. But then something happened that I wouldn't have thought possible in my wildest, weirdest, daydream or nightmare.

I heard Kevin's voice yell, "Mary? Mr. Shayler, what are you doing? Let her go, Mary!"

I brought my dazed and cloudy vision up to see a blurry figure running at me from the altar. I felt my dad drop me on the ground. I heard my dad say sentences like, "What are you doing here Kevin? You're the, the bishop is, oh God." Knowing that Kevin was near, I shook my head, trying to clear it, and screamed, "Kevin!" There was a cacophony of noise in which I heard Joe, Nick, Frankie, Mr. Jonas, and my dad all talking loudly at once. I opened my eyes and blinked, but all I could see was a blur of shapes moving around in front of me. Weakly, I cried out, "Kevin…"

Then warm hands grasped my corseted waist, pulling me up into their arms. I felt breath trickle down my neck as I heard the voice that I loved choke out, "Mary, shh, I'm here, it's alright, shh..you're alright now." I blinked again, and realized I was crying, and that was why I couldn't see. I blinked repeatedly, trying to get the tears away. My vision cleared, and I saw Kevin's eyes. Those beautiful eyes that pictures and videos did no justice to, framed by the long, thick lashes that I envied.

He was crying too, stroking my face gently, his hands shaking. I reached my fingers up to touch his face. He closed his eyes and leaned into my palm, then turned his head and kissed it. He looked back at me and kissed my forehead, choking out, "Hi Mary, hi sweetie, oh my gosh, I love you so much. I've got you, I've got you baby, I love you." I couldn't say anything. I just sobbed and looked into his eyes and touched his face, just to reassure myself that he was really there.

Then I started babbling, "I'm so sorry, please forgive me, it's all my fault baby, please forgive me, I'm so sorry, so sorry, I didn't want to…" He wiped tears off my face and whispered, "What baby? What is it?" I stared at him, my lip quivering. Then I broke down again.

"I almost married someone else. If you hadn't been here I would've married someone else, please forgive me baby, please." I buried my head in his shoulder, and he rocked me, stroking my hair as he said, "It wasn't your fault Mary, you didn't want to, and that is all that matters. I love you so much."

Just then both our dad's came over and mine grabbed me and hoisted me off of Kevin, slapping me across the face again, bursting the stitches Ann had put in, and making it bleed again. Kevin launched himself at my dad, but was blocked by his dad.

As I touched my lip, breathing hard, still crying and hiccupping, I realized what was going on. Mr. Jonas must have gone crazy too. He must have dragged his kids out here and he was the man Dad had been talking about, the one who had also lost his wife, but was stronger, and had brought his kids out of their sinful atmosphere…that was it!

My dad said, "Well, you get your wish. You're marrying Kevin tonight." He roughly pulled me towards the altar. I saw Joe and Nick, Frankie trying to hold both of them back. They were wearing what looked like suspenders and puffy shirts. I smiled at their shocked persons. Nothing could make me upset now, not even being hit by my father. Kevin was here, I was not marrying a stranger, and that was all that mattered.

Kevin was pushed along past us by his dad. He looked back and glared at my dad, who grinned and smacked me again. Frankie screamed. My vision got cloudy again for a minute, and I heard Kevin yelling furiously at my dad, then the calm, yet somehow creepy voice of Mr. Jonas telling my dad that once I was Kevin's wife, he wasn't allowed to hit me unless I really deserved it. He said that was up to Kevin to punish me in whatever way he thought best.

My vision cleared again as I was thrust into Kevin's arms. He wrapped them tightly around me, and whispered, "Are you okay?" I nodded and gingerly dabbed at my lip. I knew my whole face was going to be bruised after tonight.

We pulled back a little to say our vows. They weren't much. It basically went like this.

"Mary, do you promise to love, obey, and in everything adhere to Kevin for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do."

"Kevin, do you promise to love and take care of Mary for as long as you both shall live?"

He smiled at me saying, "I do," then whispering, I promise to be faithful to you and to you only and to protect you in sickness and in health…and…I forgot the rest…" I smiled at Kevin, wincing a little as my lips stretched. Mr. Jonas said, "As Bishop of this establishment, I pronounce you husband and wife. May you be fruitful and multiply." I blushed and looked down before looking back up at Kevin, whose eyebrow was wiggling suggestively. I couldn't help the giggles that came out.

My dad came close, and I automatically drew closer to Kevin, who stood a little in front of me, glaring at my dad.

"You have to beat this one. She causes no end of trouble boy. If you don't do it, then I will."

He turned and walked away with Mr. Jonas. Joe, Nick, and Frankie hung back to quickly share a group hug and thank God for protecting me and all of them and bringing us together again. I kissed each of them on the forehead as they left. I gave Frankie an extra big hug. The poor little guy looked way thinner, stressed out, and scared.

Soon we were left alone in the echoey sanctuary. I turned to Kevin and threw myself back into his arms. I couldn't believe that after all this time, he was here, and we were together. He picked me up and carried me down the aisle and out of the doors. He carried me to the last large 

building and entered it. He walked through a entrance hall, up three flights of stairs, and walked to a door. I opened it for him, and we continued through the immense house. As we passed through what looked like an entire house, Kevin said, "This is my wing of the house. Well, our wing I guess. No one comes in here unless I say so, so you don't have to worry about your dad or mine or anyone. You will be safe here."

He set me down gently outside a door and said, "Well, you can sleep here tonight. I love you." I raised my eyebrow and shook my head.

"Oh no, there is no way that you are getting off that light. One, it's our wedding night, which means you have to stay with me. Two, I'm gonna need a lot of help to get this stupid corset off along with the stupid dress. Three, this is the first time I have seen you in 8 months. It kind of means that we have a lot of catching up to do. And four…I just want to be with you all the time now that we're together. Now carry me over this threshold genius!"

Kevin grinned at me, shaking his head, and said, "Well, I don't want you to suffocate in a stupid corset, so I'll come with. But…um…I don't think we should…I mean, you're hurt, and I want it to be special…and…well…"

I put my fingers against his lips slowly. I couldn't stop them from trembling a little as I remembered the first time I had done that. We were so happy then, so carefree. I glanced up at Kevin, and I knew he was remembering it too. I traced his lips with my fingertips and whispered, "I know. I don't think I'm ready either. But I just want to be near you, hear your heartbeat, feel your warmth, listen to you breathe."

I felt a tear drop on my finger, and looked up quickly to see Kevin's eyes swimming. He took my hands, kissed my fingers, and held them gently. "I thought you were dead. And here you are. Arrived into my living hell to make it heaven. And I can protect you now. I want to be with you too. You're my wife now, and I love you so, so much." As he was talking, I extricated one of my hands, and reached it up to gently brush away his tears. They were like liquid gold to me. I got on my tip-toes to kiss him.

"I love you so, so much too. Let's go sweetie. I think we're both tired. We can cuddle."

Kevin scrubbed at his eyes and grinned at me.

"Cuddling? I haven't cuddled with you in forever! Lets go!"

I grinned as he opened the door and swept me across the threshold.


	4. Authors Note

AN:

Thanks to starsnuffers for reviewing. Good call on her finding him: Mary is indeed one lucky girl

So, tell me, where do you guys think this story should go? Any ideas? Any thoughts or ideas whatsoever? Thanks so much for reading, and I suppose, liking. It's kinda cool. Btw, I do not mean to intimate that I know anything about the Jonas Brothers, because I don't. I' m just using them as characters, because they are just perfect for that. (I have this pet peeve about people "knowing" everything about celebs because the only know what mags and the celebs say. It's different to actually know the real people. So there, I spilled, and I am happy, thanks all


	5. This Is Your Room?

As we entered the room, I gasped. It was SO beautiful. It was rock floors, walls, even ceilings. The rock was dark and uneven, so that it felt like being in a cave. Pillars of the same rock came up from the floor and reached to the high, rounded ceiling. The place was huge, probably capable of claiming at least 1000 square feet all by itself.

At the far end was a pair of glass doors that led outside, probably to a balcony. There was a large indoor fountain that went down the wall and into a basin on the floor right next to them. I knew that when it was day, the sun would hit the water, and cast water-lights all over the room.

A huge, dark, mahogany wood four poster was put next to the fountain's pool. It's bedding varied starkly from the rich qualities of the rest of the room. I recognized the huge black and gold crocheted blanket as the one Kevin's grandma had made for him when he was a baby for his "later years." Kevin had shown it to me when I first visited his family on their bus at Tahoe right after we met, and he was showing me his treasured possessions that he brought with him everywhere.

The floor was scattered with fur rugs here and there, and one of these was in front of a fireplace. Kevin stumbled over to it, and sat down on it, leaning against a pillar. I stayed curled up in his lap, but looked all around me in awe. It was such an incredible place. I stared at the blue waving reflections from the pool on the ceiling and whispered, "This is your bedroom? What…how…I mean…I thought I was coming to live in a cabin, and this is…well this is insanely…amazing."

Putting one arm around me, and the other behind his head, Kevin sighed. "Well, lets just say that this is a very short installment of what happened. Mom died, Dad went nuts and took all the Jonas Brothers money. He bought this land that used to be a ranch for orphans, transformed the buildings, and I got my say in what I wanted for my rooms. I figured that since I was going to be stuck out here at least until Frankie turned 18 that I would use the money I earned and make it an amazing getaway from everything that's been happening. The other boys sneak in here sometimes, and we just try to forget about it all. So that is the short version. Do you want the really, really long version of what has happened since you disappeared?"

I nodded, then paused, and said, "Well, it would be really great to get out of this get up and corset first."

He chuckled. "Ok, lets get you out so you can breath again."

We stood up, and I was about to ask Kev to unbutton the dress, when I looked up at him. His eyes were fixed lovingly on me and when he realized I had caught him staring, he blushed a little.

"You look so beautiful. I know it's a stupid dress, but…wow…you are so gorgeous."

I laughed a little sarcastically.

"I'm beaten to a pulp Kevin. It's a little hard to be beautiful looking like this."

He raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh no you don't. Come here, and I will show you how beautiful you are." He dragged me to the wall opposite the fountain where there was a full length mirror.

I gasped as I saw myself. My face was a little bloody and bruising on my left cheek in the shape of a hand. But if you looked at the other side, I looked just like a bride from a magazine.

Half of my straight hip-length strawberry blonde (and yes, I know it's cliché, but hey, I can't help it. That's my hair, and I like it, and I am still intelligent, so deal with it) was pulled back into an intricate braid. Both the braid the hair that cascaded down my shoulders was dripping with deep red rosebuds, lilies, daisies, and other various flowers, all of them tiny, yet perfect. No wonder I smelled good.

My eyes were red from crying, but it only made them look more blue. There were bruises forming on my neck and shoulders from when my dad had dragged me to the wedding. And the dress was really beautiful too.

What would have been a strapless gown had delicate white lace straps that hung loosely on my shoulders. It wasn't poofy or skin tight, but it was just…perfect, and incredibly pretty. And I had to admit…that dumb corset sure gave me the perfect figure and a tiny waist. I couldn't have wished for anything prettier for a wedding look.

I looked at Kevin's reflection next to mine in the mirror. He looked startingly handsome, as usual. He had grown his curls out so that they were in ringlets that he had pulled back into a ponytail. All of them were perfectly in place except for that one rogue curl that constantly hung down his forehead and over his left eye. I loved that curl.

He was dressed in black dress pants, a white dress shirt, a black vest, and one of his trademark bandanas. As I looked Kev up and down, I noticed that he had filled out some since I last saw him. His arm that encircled my waist felt bigger and definitely stronger.

I turned to Kevin and he put his other arm around me. I played with the buttons on his vest as I quietly said, "Wouldn't it be cool if we had a camera right now?" He suddenly let go of me and ran to the bed. As he fell to his knees next to it, he called back, "I have my camera. I smuggled it in!"

I squealed with excitement as he pulled out a digital camera from underneath a stack of books. He turned it on, and ran at me, apparently snapping photos the whole way. I laughed as he set the timer, put the camera on the fireplace mantle, and ran back to me. Kev picked me up and we looked at each other lovingly as the flash went off. He set it again, and came back. Hesitantly, he took my hand.

"I never kissed the bride."

He suddenly kissed me, and I melted into his embrace. We didn't even notice the flash going off this time. I felt him run his hands through me hair, knocking a few flowers out. Then I felt the sting of my split lip, and pulled back, gasping. Breathing a little unevenly, Kevin whispered in a guilty voice, "Are you ok? Let me see it." I let him investigate my lip, wincing when he passed over a tender spot. Each time he apologized, and stopped for a second. He shook his head.

"That's going to take a week or two to heal."

Kev looked into my eyes, his soft and concerned.

"I'm sorry babe."

"It's ok…But could we please get me out of this now? I'm suffocating.."

"Oh, right."

It took several minutes for Kevin to release all of the tiny little buttons from their catches on the back of the dress. Finally he accomplished his mission, and I stepped out of it, happily letting it drop on the floor. Then I grabbed one of the bedposts as Kevin pulled all the ties through and off of the corset. Then that was VERY happily abandoned on the floor. Liberated, I heaved a sigh of relief and flopped backwards onto the bed as Kevin started to laugh. I rolled my eyes and said, "What?"

"Bloomers?"

I looked down at my underclothing and once again rolled my eyes.

"You wouldn't happen to have any extra pj's would you?"

He disappeared under the bed again, to emerge with a t-shirt and two drawstring sleep pants. Grabbing the shirt and one of the pants, I said, "When we get changed, you have to tell me what happened to you," and motioned for him to turn around. He just stared at me with an expression that said, "Seriously?"  
"Fine, but at least close your eyes."

He grinned at me, then covered his eyes with his hands. Knowing he would probably peek, I turned my back on him and changed pants. Then I pulled off the skimpy camisole. I was about to slip on the shirt when Kevin gasped my name. I covered myself with the shirt quickly and said, "What? What's wrong?" Kevin had a horrified look on his face, and my heart sank as he pointed to my back. I suddenly remembered the fresh scars and bruises that covered me from just above my bra strap to my hips. For some reason I felt ashamed, and couldn't look at Kevin as he reached out and touched a scar that ran all the way around my waist. As he traced another one down my vertebrae, he asked in a hushed, sick kind of voice, "What happened to you" I knew he 

wasn't talking about the scar in particular, but why I had disappeared, why my dad was crazy, why I was covered in scar tissue, and why I was even here. And I knew I would be going first in exchanging stories. Still unable to look at him, I pulled the shirt over my head and quickly yanked it down. I laid down on my side, not sure if I could talk about my experiences. Then I felt him as he lay down next to me, tucking his head into my neck, and wrapping an arm around me gently, as though afraid I would break. And I knew I could tell him anything, and would tell him everything. I did a quick prayer, asking God for strength, then I opened my mouth and began my account of the happenings that started 10 months ago.


End file.
